Gas prices fall as the long Thanksgiving weekend approachesLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas motorists will be paying less to travel during the long Thanksgiving weekend as gasoline prices continue to fall. A survey of more than 300 gas outlets by national fuel analyst GasBuddy indicates average retail gasoline prices in Little Rock have fallen 3.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $1.91 per gallon on Sunday. The national average has fallen 1.7 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.13 per gallon. Su...

Public hearing set for Arkansas Ten Commandments monumentLITTLE ROCK — An Arkansas panel will hold a public hearing next month on plans to build a privately funded monument to the Ten Commandments near the state Capitol. A subcommittee of the State Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission on Monday set Dec. 14 as the date for its hearing to receive public comments on a proposal by the American Heritage and History Foundation to build the monument. The subcommittee will make a recommendation to the full c...

Student from Arkansas selected as Rhodes Scholar for 2017LITTLE ROCK — A college student from Arkansas is among 32 Americans selected as Rhodes Scholars and will pursue post-graduate studies at Oxford University in England. Little Rock resident Lauren C. Jackson is a senior at the University of Virginia where she is majoring in political and social thought. At Oxford, she plans to pursue master's degrees in global governance and diplomacy and refugee and forced migration studies. "I never in a milli...

Little Rock sees increase in misdemeanor marijuana arrestsLITTLE ROCK — Little Rock Police Department data shows police have made more misdemeanor marijuana arrests in 2016 compared to any of the previous four years. As of Nov. 9, Little Rock police have made 225 arrests in which misdemeanor marijuana possession was the only violation. That's a 95 percent increase compared to the number of arrests in 2012, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2gazW5i ) reported. Police spokesman Lt. Steve McC...

New overtime pay rule to affect Arkansas universitiesFAYETTEVILLE — Employees at two Arkansas universities will soon become eligible for overtime compensation under a new U.S. Department of Labor rule. Hundreds of University of Arkansas at Fayetteville workers and about 1,000 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences employees will be affected when the rule takes effect Dec. 1, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/2fMQvBo ). UAMS will increase the salaries of postdoctoral rese...

Western Arkansas wildfire burns nearly 2 square milesCHARLESTON — State forestry officials say a wildfire that burned nearly 2 square miles in western Arkansas has been contained. The Arkansas Forestry Commission says the fire that started Thursday near Charleston burned an estimated 1,100 acres. Windy, dry weather on Thursday caused the blaze to quickly spread, and many counties had burn bans in effect. A cold front moved through the state on Friday, bringing rain, which lowered the wildfire ri...

Delay granted in Arkansas hot-check caseLITTLE ROCK — A federal judge has agreed to delay evidence gathering efforts in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Sherwood's hot-check court. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2fDrKdt ) reports the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the national Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law filed the lawsuit in August. The lawsuit alleges Sherwood and Pulaski County violate the constitutional rights of t...

Arkansas State Police to step up holiday traffic patrolsLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas State Police say troopers will be out in full force on Interstate 40 during the busy holiday travel days next week. Arkansas troopers will join fellow troopers from California to North Carolina to create a chain of law enforcement every 20 miles along the interstate corridor. Arkansas State Police say the intensified patrols will begin the day before Thanksgiving and end Sunday, Nov. 27. State police say troopers will ma...

Arkansas lawmakers weigh launch delay, taxes for medical potLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers are considering delaying the launch of the first medical marijuana program in the Bible Belt as well as an effort to impose taxes on the drug, as they work on legislation for next year's session spelling out how pot would be made available to patients. The ideas are among several that lawmakers are discussing after voters approved a constitutional amendment earlier this month allowing eligible patien...

2 women, including Texan, die in separate Arkansas crashesEGYPT — Arkansas State police say two women, including one from Texas, have been killed in separate crashes on Arkansas roads. Police say 26-year-old Megan Holt of Cash and 62-year-old Cynthia Hughes of Corpus, Christi, Texas, died in the crashes Wednesday. A police report says Holt died when the car she was driving westbound on Highway 91 near Egypt in Craighead County was struck by an oncoming vehicle that had gone off the roadway, then over...

Prosecutor: Fort Smith School Board violated information actFORT SMITH — A prosecutor says the Fort Smith School Board violated the state's Freedom of Information Act when they conducted business through a series of emails. School board members discussed the new slate of school board officers prior to elections. The Southwest Times Record (http://bit.ly/2fZ54RF ) reports that Sebastian County prosecutor Dan Shue issued a letter to school board members Nov. 8. informing them of the violation. School boa...

Judge to make decision on Buffalo River farm permit caseLITTLE ROCK — A judge is set to make a decision on an appeal of an environmental permit modification that would allow a farmer to spread hog manure on his property in the Buffalo River watershed. EC Farms owner Ellis Campbell applied in 2015 for the permit to apply up to 6.7 million gallons of the manure, which comes from C&H Farms in Mount Judea. Three women appealed the permit, arguing the modifications were equal to adding another hog farm ...

Possible cannonball found in Hot Springs is detonatedHOT SPRINGS — Authorities in Hot Springs say a cannonball that was found outside a local business has been detonated safely. City spokeswoman Terry Payne says the Civil War-style cannonball was reported shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday in a vehicle and Fire Department personnel believed it could still be active. The Arkansas State Police bomb squad removed the device from the trunk of a car and it was eventually detonated at the Garland County l...

Arkansas Man Sentenced To Death In Son's Killing With StickBENTONVILLE — A northwest Arkansas man convicted of killing his 6-year-old son by assaulting the child with a stick has been sentenced to death. A Benton County jury recommended the sentence for 45-year-old Mauricio Torres on Tuesday after finding him guilty of capital murder and battery a day earlier. Circuit Judge Brad Karren formally imposed the Bella Vista man's sentence A medical examiner at Torres' trial blamed the March 2015 death of Ma...

Arkansas Lawmaker Proposes Tax Break For Veterans' BenefitsLITTLE ROCK — A renewed effort to exempt Arkansas military veterans' retirement benefits from the income tax is one of the first bills filed ahead of next year's legislative session. Republican Rep. Charlene Fite filed the proposed tax break on Tuesday, the first day for lawmakers to pre-file bills for the 2017 session. The proposal would exempt veterans' retirement and survivor benefits from the state income tax. State finance officials said ...

Van Buren County Inmate Found Dead Inside Jail PodCLINTON — The Van Buren County sheriff says an inmate at the county jail has been found dead. Sheriff Scott Bradley says in a news release that 33-year-old Steven Brainard of Stone County was found hanging in his pod Monday by guards who were picking up breakfast dishes. Bradley says the guards began resuscitation efforts and called paramedics, but Brainard was pronounced dead at the scene. Bradley said Arkansas State Police are investigating ...

Elk In Arkansas Tests Positive For Chronic Wasting DiseaseLITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says one elk taken so far in the fall hunting season has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The commission said Wednesday that 52 elk have been harvested during the season and the elk that tested positive is a bull that was taken on private land in southwestern Searcy County. Elk program coordinator Wes Wright said more than 90 elk have been tested since February when the first conf...

Arkansas Ten Commandments Statue Advances To Public HearingLITTLE ROCK — A plan to build a monument to the Ten Commandments at the Arkansas state Capitol has advanced, with a state panel voting the proposal can now face a public hearing. A subcommittee of the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission on Wednesday found the application for the privately funded monument is sufficient and the state can now hold a hearing to gather public comments on the plan. A spokesman for the secretary of state's office sai...

University Of Central Arkansas Has 4 Possible Mumps CasesCONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas said there are four possible cases of mumps at the school. Dr. Randy Pastor, UCA's Student Health Center medical director, said that three students went into the clinic with swelling on the side of their faces on Friday, the Log Cabin Democrat (http://bit.ly/2gh0WS5 ) reported. Pastor said there was a similar case on Monday, but none of the cases have been confirmed as mumps. According to Pastor, all...

Arkansas Foster Care Officials Aim To Hire 228 More WorkersLITTLE ROCK — A $26.7 million increase in the budget for Arkansas' child welfare program will pay for hundreds of new foster care workers as the agency tries to lighten workers' caseloads and increase the number of homes available for children in the state's custody, officials said Monday. State Department of Human Services officials released a report detailing the steps being taken to stabilize the foster care system, which has grown by 30 pe...